This document has been formatted for printing from your browser from the Web site of the Illinois Association of School Boards.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE -- This document is © copyrighted by the Illinois Association of School Boards. IASB hereby grants to school districts and other Internet users the right to download, print and reproduce this document provided that (a) the Illinois Association of School Boards is noted as publisher and copyright holder of the document and (b) any reproductions of this document are disseminated without charge and not used for any commercial purpose.

Illinois School Board Journal
September/October 2001

Wired for learning
Illinois logs on for virtual school

by Linda Dawson

Editor's note: In 1994, Utah became a pioneer state for virtual schooling after a challenge from its governor, Mike Leavitt, to "provide access to every high school core course via technology."

According to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, that state has another emerging phenomenon: a number of enterprising cyber schools developed under the umbrella of the state's charter school act. This is causing controversy and consternation throughout the state, "largely because of the potential of thousands of students delving into educationally uncharted waters of cyberspace, and millions of locally generated tax dollars leaving school district coffers for entities that most people will experience only through computer screens," according to the June 2001 PSBA Bulletin.

Another article in the same Bulletin reports a system in Ohio being run privately by the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow. In the meantime, Colorado has adopted laws limiting online enrollments to students "who were enrolled in a public or charter school in the previous year" and made cyber school students subject to the same testing requirements as classroom students. Michigan has a dual enrollment process with local school districts that is just in the beginning stages.

For years, high school teachers have taught at the front of a classroom filled with students they could see and interact with on a daily basis, whereas "distance learning" has been limited to correspondence courses most often associated with college classes.

However, with burgeoning Internet technology, pioneering school districts and states are blazing a trail for true distance learning: virtual classrooms that provide learning opportunities, as the Florida Virtual School (FVS) slogan boasts, "Any time, any place, any path, any pace."

While not first in this movement to cyber classrooms, Illinois chose to launch its system at what many consider cyber speed. The move left many administrators and school board members wondering how and if this alternative will fit into their curriculum.

Talk of an Illinois Virtual High School began in November 1999, but it wasn't until Governor George Ryan issued a challenge in February 2000 that the idea began to take shape. Under his Venture Technical Initiative, $250,000 in funding was promised to the Illinois State Board of Education to devise a plan for virtual learning. The program was envisioned as one that would bring equity and access to all students in Illinois, according to Bradley Woodruff, division administrator with ISBE's Secondary Education Division.

Woodruff described Illinois' jump into virtual schooling as "Internet speed" in terms of governmental entities developing a plan and launching a new program. A three-day retreat brought together 25 people from across the state with interest in developing a virtual high school, and they hammered out a strategic plan to get IVHS up and running by January 2001.

With little time to develop its own curriculum, ISBE turned to commercial vendors for initial course content, he said. Because no single provider had the depth and breadth they wanted to offer, content for IVHS' initial 16 courses came from seven different server settings.

In this attempt to get online quickly, IVHS has encountered some technical difficulties and a number of integration issues, according to Matthew Wicks, director of virtual learning at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) in Aurora. But as one of those involved with the IVHS program from the very beginning, Wicks sees these glitches as part of the learning curve that will be helped in part by hiring a full-time coordinator, something the program is in the process of doing.

"We learned a great deal from our pilot," Wicks said. That knowledge is being transferred to a handbook geared to helping schools understand the IVHS process, from initial interest in courses to getting final grades into a student's transcript.

So far, interest in IVHS has been about what the pilot program had hoped for: enough to get it off the ground but not so overwhelming that everyone involved becomes frustrated. Marketing efforts for IVHS have been purposefully minimal in order to allow a gradual induction of schools into the system.

IVHS chose a "difficult moment" by launching in January, according to Deborah Hutti, dean of instruction at Lake Land College in Mattoon, but it seems to have worked. The difficulty came partly from student schedules set far in advance of schools learning IVHS would launch. But it worked to their advantage by keeping initial classes and the number of schools involved small.

Because community colleges were already offering online classes, Hutti said, she was able to assist the steering committee by providing evidence of what worked and what didn't with distance classes, thus shortening the learning curve and allowing IVHS to launch in record time.

According to IVHS data from the state board, 124 schools requested to participate in the pilot semester, but only 33 schools enrolled students. Of the initial 16 courses, students enrolled in 12. The most popular was A+ Certification Preparedness (23), a course to prepare students to take the A+ Certification Exam and show competency as an entry-level computer service technician. Other popular classes were Network+ Certification Preparedness (15), English as a Second Language (13) and Oceanography (9). No students requested Spanish I or II, Advanced Placement Microeconomics or Pre-calculus.

This fall, according to the IVHS Web site (www.ivhs.org), the program will have 67 offerings in literature, math, science, civics, history and foreign language, as well as the first semester's most popular classes. Content providers include Apex Learning, Class.com, IMSA, the Central Illinois Distance Education Network in Mattoon, and virtual high school systems in Florida and Kentucky.

But even with content provided by outside sources, IVHS is keeping its instructors in-state. Woodruff said all are adjunct faculty, who are contracted to an Illinois school district and teach these courses in their free time and on weekends. One such teacher in the pilot semester was Bruce Howell, a high school social studies teacher in Lisle Community Unit School District 202.

Howell, who has taught in Lisle classrooms for 16 years, thought things went "really well" with his Advanced Placement Macroeconomics class, although teaching online does have its differences.

"You have to be more creative," Howell said, because a lot of what teachers do in a face-to-face classroom comes from non-verbal responses. With his seven IVHS students, Howell tried to get a "deeper level of connection early on" through e-mail and telephone conversations. The latter, he said, are very important to really "get a handle on who they are."

His students were typical of any classroom, he said. One was very social, often caught up in trying to find time to get the work done. Another was homebound and had problems with the difficulty of the material. Yet another was a foreign exchange student who wanted to take the Advanced Placement test to earn college credits for his return to Germany.

And, in order to get another perspective, Howell said he "gently coerced" a Lisle student to take his online course so he could get more feedback.

Of his seven students, only three were from IVHS. The other four came from bartering services with Apex Learning to have him teach the course. But Howell said he treated all of his students equally and tried to get them to adhere to IVHS rules, which stipulate teachers should have telephone contact with students twice a month and contact with their parents once a month. Parental contact proved to be even more of a problem than student contact.

"One set of parents (of an Apex Learning student) didn't want to deal with me," Howell said. They told him this computer class was their student's "thing." But another was very supportive, knew economics to a certain extent, and offered to help the student himself if problems arose.

"I've really gotten into this," Howell said of his IVHS teaching experience. Although he's eager to teach again this fall, as of early August he had yet to hear whether any students had signed up for his class. Due to the degree of difficulty of the course, that didn't surprise him.

Because no prerequisites were set up for students to take his class, some may find themselves in way over their heads. "They need to have a screening method and an introductory statement that talks about how time consuming it can be, the difficulty of the material and the huge commitment that an online class involves," Howell said.

The IVHS Web site does feature questions for students to determine if online learning is appropriate for them. The list of course offerings also uses descriptive phrases such as "entry level," "introductory," "challenging" and "comprehensive" to clue students on difficulty. But as with any new learning format, students as well as teachers and coordinators are learning as they go.

On the participating schools' side, both a technical coordinator and a building principal also feel the initial semester went well. But both also have reservations about the money districts must pay to get students enrolled in IVHS courses. Current tuition is $300 a course, payable by the home district in many cases.

Linda Syrcle, an English teacher and technology coordinator with Barry Community Unit School District 1, said despite an early filter problem with their Internet provider, the two Barry students who took Oceanography last semester "really enjoyed the class" and have expressed interest in taking another IVHS class this fall.

Both her school board and students are excited by the possibilities that IVHS might offer, she said.

"We are a small school that does have an extensive curriculum, but there is only so much that we can offer," Syrcle said. "The virtual high school offers small schools many classes that they could never afford."

That's the most positive aspect of IVHS, according to steering committee member Wicks. "It goes hand-in-hand with our mission statement to provide an opportunity for better equity of access to curriculum throughout the state."

Districts with curriculum limitations can access classes they've only dreamed about for their students, he said. Districts in growth areas can use IVHS as a stop-gap to hiring another full-time teacher to accommodate just a few extra students.

Wicks used the example of having too many students requesting Algebra I for a semester. Rather than overcrowding the sections a district is capable of offering, administrators might want to look at which students could benefit by taking the class online.

"You may be removing them from an overcrowded situation," he said, "which may give everyone a better experience."

And at $300 per student for 10 extra students, the district would save money by not hiring another full-time or even part-time instructor.

But because Barry is what Syrcle described as "a poor district," she sees the $300 student cost as a possible stumbling block. The district has indicated it would pay for courses for anyone labeled as "gifted" and for those who want to take a course that the district does not offer. With a change in superintendent this summer, however, things could change, she said.

"Right now, I think we are just looking at juniors and seniors with exceptions depending on the student and the situation," Syrcle said.

Cost also may be a factor in whether additional students at Marion High School take IVHS courses, according to John Harland, principal at Marion Community Unit School District 2.

Harland said MHS students have benefited from a dual credit program through John A. Logan College in nearby Carterville, where students can take courses for $50 a credit hour. "Why would the district want to pay $300 when a student could take a course at John A. Logan for $150, or nothing with an ACE grant?" he asked.

Marion recruited one student to enroll in an AP government course last spring, Harland said, because the district wanted to be in on the ground floor of the new statewide virtual program. While the student enjoyed the course, he didn't do as well on the AP exam as they had hoped.

"Schools need to learn more about this," Harland said, so that they can decide if this is a good alternative for their students.

But learning what's offered is only one part of the equation. Schools also need to know what's required on their part.

Harland said they ran into more things that the district had to do than what they had thought, including providing a class period a day for the student to take the course, computer access and a mentor at the school. There are also special issues with science classes, including access to a lab.

"If you don't have the faculty, that may create a problem," he said.

These problems are what IVHS hopes to ease as they bring school districts into the IVHS system slowly during the first few years. By looking at controlled growth and development of their own courses to help bring costs down, ISBE's Woodruff sees online classes as a viable alternative for many if not all high school districts in the state.

But he and others in the developmental process also recognize that such a drastic change in the way learning opportunities are presented will take some time to adapt.

While online classes may now appeal to talented/gifted high-achievers, the IVHS steering committee envisions a program that ultimately will serve all students, from the highly motivated, self-disciplined "A" students to those who are at-risk or learning disabled. They see a future that offers the opportunity for introverted, self-conscious students to overcome those obstacles and "show their stuff."

While they realize this is not a panacea for improved student learning, they do see it having increased applications for all students.

"This is not some sort of solution as to everything that's wrong with the education system," Wicks said, adding: "Within three to five years, I would see us offering a very diverse set of courses with a key set of staff to run the program and that a majority of schools would be participating at some level."

That becomes the challenge for school board members: how to decide at what level your district will participate.

Michael D. Johnson, Illinois Association of School Boards executive director, said IASB has encouraged districts to look at IVHS as just one more learning opportunity for students. Boards should let their current policies governing other such opportunities - like correspondence, satellite and community college courses - govern how they will handle IVHS students, he said.

"This is just another method of delivery," Johnson said. "This is just the technology that exists now."

Students shouldn't be allowed to use online classes to bypass a difficult teacher, he said, but if taking an online class can ease scheduling difficulties or provide additional, enriched curriculum, then boards may want to look at how they can make it happen.

Allowing boards local control to determine who will take online classes and under what circumstances can help ease concerns about districts losing autonomy over their students. Board members also will want to take time to talk about other questions, such as how many online credits they will accept toward graduation requirements, how online grades are weighted and if online grades will count toward valedictorian criteria.

By answering these questions and determining how online classes fit into existing policy, districts "can open up doors that are unbelievable for students," Johnson said. "This may be a way to keep kids in high school."

It also can solve bothersome transportation issues for districts that routinely allow students to take courses at local community colleges, he said.

From her community college perspective, Hutti said, K-12 districts and secondary schools have done a wonderful job in providing a public education that is second to none for students in their district. But by offering online classes such as those available through IVHS, districts will be able to better reach the segment of students that need more than just the traditional face-to-face classroom learning opportunity.

And she sees the cooperative, partnering efforts between secondary and higher education as a plus for everyone involved.

"It's worth all of us pulling together," she said, "because if we do serve even another five percent of the learners, wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Clark, Tom; "Virtual High Schools: State of the States," Center for the Application of Information Technologies (Macomb, Illinois), March 2000

PSBA Bulletin, "Cyber charter schools: A new phenomenon," p16, June 2001

PSBA Bulletin, "Learning in cyberspace: What's occurring across the nation," p20, June 2001

Boschmann, Erwin; The Electronic Classroom: A Handbook for Education in the Electronic Environment, Learned Information, Inc., 1995

"Distance Learning Primer," (video-recording and handbook), developed by the Missouri School Boards Association's Education Satellite Network, 1994

"Distance Learning for All Learners," United States Education and Instruction Through Telecommunications, Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington, D.C. 1995

Stoll, Clifford; High-Tech Heretic, Reflections of a Computer Contrarian, Anchor Books, 1999

Tapscott, Don; Educational Leadership v56n5 (February 1999)

Thornburg, David D.; Putting the Web to Work: Transforming Education for the Next Century, Starsong Publications, 1996